Overview

A powerful notebook laced with raw Holocaust memories. She lived through horror and survived to tell the stories of those less fortunate... Poland, 1943. Tragically orphaned Janina Hescheles recited poetry every night against the backdrop of Janowski camp’s burning bodies. Her haunting words catching the attention of the underground movement, she was smuggled to freedom just before the destruction of the site and the mass murder of its forced-labor Jewish captives. Concealed in Cracow and given writing tools to capture the brutal images in her head, the twelve-year-old began to faithfully record events and names of the dead. Hescheles’ report opens in June of 1941 with the ruthless Nazi occupation of her beloved city, Lvov. Through vivid recollections, she meticulously details the enforced imprisonment of her friends, family, and neighbors in the Ghetto. Her unique account recalls a child’s painful longing for the mother and father she lost to the sadistic Third Reich. In this courageous story of innocence taken so young, Hescheles reveals the stark daily realities of the horrific Jewish genocide. She was not afraid to be shot, but to be buried alive - the fate reserved for children. Written with descriptive immediacy during history’s ghastliest episode, this extraordinary notebook is an inspiring example of a Holocaust survivor bearing witness to the memories of a lost people. Complete with a recent forward, Hescheles exemplifies how life and hope can continue beyond unimaginable tragedy. My Lvov: Holocaust Memoir of a twelve-year-old Girl is a fascinating memoir that brings an appalling event to life. If you like authentic first-hand reports, striking observations, and poignant reads, then you’ll love Hescheles’ childhood narrative.

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9789493056367

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Reviews

... one of the most unique documents to appear after the Holocaust. - Ilana Dayan, Galei Tsahal Radio Station, Jerusalem ... written in 1943 when its author was only twelve years old... It must be read in schools, in colleges and in universities, since the memory of the past could serve as an antidote against the outbreak of fascism, hatred of foreigners and the poor, and against the rise of the extreme Right in Europe. - Sal-Ius Herrera, El Punt Avul, Barcelona ... one of the most riveting documents of the extermination of the Jews in Europe. Jaroslav Hrytsak, Professor of History at the University of Lviv, claims with justice: 'These pages are difficult to read, but it is inconceivable that they should not be read...' Culture is largely an attempt to preserve the memory of life, something which characterizes us as members of the human race. - Enric Soria, El Pais, Madrid Side by side with persons that made their mark in history, heroes of underground struggle, there are in these memories many people, yet not enough - the heroes and heroines of history that we are unable to tell about: playmates of children's games, prisoners, restless neighbors on the bunks of the hut. Janina Hescheles records their names meticulously, and perhaps this diary is the only place where they are mentioned, as though this little girl knew, understood, that the story in its entirety is possible only if every effort, every trace, every spark and fragment are preserved... - Piotr Laskowski

Author Information

Janina Hescheles Altman wrote her first book at the age of twelve as an orphan. She wrote it in hiding, after being rescued from the Janowska concentration camp in Lvov in 1943, two weeks before its liquidation. Her testimony about her experiences in the camp has made her known as the 'Polish Anne Frank'. It has been the subject of several films and plays and has been translated to nine different languages. The book has now appeared in English and is available in Amazon. Not to be defeated by this traumatic start in life, Janina graduated from highschool while still living in the orphanage and emigrated to Israel in 1950. There, she went on to do her doctorate and become a research scientist in chemistry. She authored scientific, fiction and historical books: Gold - From the Depth of the Earth to Outer Space (1977), Zahava (1977) and The White Rose (2007) about the resistance organisation of German students against the Nazi regime. The first two books written by her in Israel - They are Still Alive (1969), which received the ACUM Israeli prize, and What Will Tomorrow Bring (1972) appeared under the pseudonym Zvia Eitan. Janina married the physicist Colman Altman and has two sons, Eitan and Zwi. A lifelong defender for human values, today at 89, Janina continues to demonstrate with the peace movement 'Women in Black' in Haifa.

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